The Offspring Album: “Splinter [Edited]”

The Offspring returns with their same sense of lively, swaggering, and energetic brand of punk revival that made them who they are today. They muscle their way through a 30 minute album that will leave longtime fans drooling at the mouth for more.

Coming off of the surprisingly underrated "Conspiracy Of One", an MTV and radio flop, "Splinter" returns with something that casual fans and hardcore fans will enjoy alike. Whether it's the radio single "Hit That", the punk/ska hilarity of "The Worst Hangover Ever", or the classic story telling of "Spare Me the Details" on the poppier end of things, to the harder more metal side, belting out songs like "Long Way Home", "Lightning Rod" and "Da Hui". They close the album out nicely with "When You're in Prison", a 1930s style tale of watching your back in the big house, complete with the fake crackling of the record in the background. It's a beautifully produced album with a bit of nostalgia thrown in to the mid-nineties fueled punk sound.

Critics will be hard on The Offspring for their brand of sophomoric humor that they refuse to give up. But this will be irrelevant to longtime fans. They will be happier than anyone about "Splinter".

How do these guys do it!? after almost 20 years they make possibly their best CD ever, either this or Ixnay is the best! And the crtic reviews arent as bad as people say, they are all 3/5 or a "B", those arent bad even tho this CD deserves way more. Only a band like the Offspring can make great music after this long while changing their style but holding on to their roots.

1. Neocon (N/A) - This is really an intro, but its almost a song and its really good, I never skip it.

2. The Noose (10/10) - This is a great song, very catchy and unique, sounds alot like an older AFI song actually. You might have heard the intro on Monday Night Football

3. Long Way Home (10/10) - This features Jim from Pennywise in it, its very cool, sounds kinda like Pennywise too.

4. Hit That (9/10) - This is a great song for a radio single

5. Race Against Myself (9/10) - Alot like "Gone Away" or "Amazed" from Ixnay but w/ a twist, its great.

6. (Cant Get My) Head Around You (10/10) - Probably my favorite, this will be the 2nd single. Its awesome, loud, fast, and powerful.

7. Worst Hangover Ever (8/10) - A cool catchy ska song

8. Never Gonna Find Me (8/10) - A cool punk song, sounds like Pennywise kinda, a very cool ending.

9. Lightning Rod (10/10) - Maybe my favorite. Wow. This had to grow on me a little but I love it now, a unique punk song with a big twist.

10. Spare Me The Details (10/10) - This is an awesome acoustic song, the most different thing Offspring have ever done, sounds a little like Green Day

11. Da Hui (10/10) - Fast, ripping, short, awesome!

Conclusion: This could possibly be their best CD ever, and thats saying ALOT

I don't believe I've seena positive review for Splinter in any magazines, newspapers, etc. Believe me, I tried looking. It then dawned on me that I've never seen a critic in favour of the Offspring . I can only draw one conclusion from this:

PROFESSIONAL MUSIC CRITIC'S OPINIONS ARE WORHTLESS.

Keeping that in mind, I loved the new CD. Cool cover, too. I agree with all of you who say the album could've been longer, but I think they made up for it by giving us some mighty fine songs. To me it sounds like Americana blended with Conspiracy of One. Anyway, on to the songs!

1)Neocon-Had this been longer, it would have been the top track.

2)The Noose-Best o' the bunch. Sounds kinda like 'Dammit, I

3)Long Way Home- Not bad, not bad. 7.5/10

4)Hit That- Their 1st single. Intersting sound, could use

5)Race Against Myself- Awesome chorus. Rumour has it they

6)Head Around You- Avearge song, kinda catchy. 8/10

7)Worst Hangover Ever- Nice little ditty about alcoholism 8.5/10

8)Never Gonna Find Me- Brilliant finale to it. Nuff said. 9/10

9)Lightning Rod- Thought-provoking lyrics, check it out. 9/10

10)Spare Me the Details- Accoustic sound helps spice up the

11)Da Hui- I'm sorry, but I don't like surfing. 6/10

12)When You're in Prison- Utterly bizarre, though Michael

Well, there you have it. A stellar addition to any music fan's collection.

Oh, by the way, "a-fire-outdoors", or "a-fire-inside", or whatever the hell you call yourself, you seem to have taken a crash course in The Offspring. It is regrettably true that Ron Welty left the band, and Josh Freeze was enlisted to drum for Splinter. HOWEVER, he was SUPPOSED to be temporary. He helped them out for the album and handed the sticks over to Atom Willard, who is now the official drummer for the Offspring. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. When in the hell did Greg K. ever leave?! Exactly! He didn't! Check your sources, Pepe le Pieu! And the Hungarian guy was right- your spelling sucks.

Here endeth the lesson.

I bought this album because I saw it for a very low price in a supermarket somewhere in Norway and I had heard that the Offspring was fast, good rock/punk. I was lucky that I bought this album, because I like the album pretty much! It never gets bored and the punk-sound is just very good. The only bad thing is that it's very short, but you should not care, because this music never gets bored! The songs are all good fun and here is my opinion about the songs.

1. Neocon (7.5/10) - This is a very short song with lyrics against Bush. It's not a really good opener, but it's fun.

2. The Noose (10/10) - Maybe my favourite. Good guitar-playing, fast and catchy. Just a great song.

3. Long Way Home (9/10) - Similar to The Noose, but not as fast and not as catchy, still good.

4. Hit That (6,5/10) - Don't know why this was a single. It's one of the worst songs on the album, but the lyrics are pretty good.

5. Race Against Myself (9/10) - Well, you can't really call it a ballad, because I think the guys of Offspring don't know what a ballad is, but this comes very close to a good ballad. Nice (back)vocals and a strong song.

6. Can't Get My Head Around You (7/10) - Again, wondering why they made this a single. It's not as bad as Hit That, but still not really good for a single.

7. The Worst Hangover Ever (7,5/10) - Just for fun, not a really good tune, but again very funny lyrics.

8. Never Gonna Find Me (8,5/10) - Sounds a little like Hit That and Can't Get My Head Around You, but it's very much better. This should have been a single.

9. Lightning Rod (7,5/10) - Good song, but don't listen to it too much, because then it gets boring.

10. Spare Me The Details (10/10) - This is really a good, catchy, funny song. One of my favourites and a really good tune and VERY good lyrics.

11. Da Hui (8/10) - A typical punk song. Fast, agressive and lyrics about nothing.

12. When You're In Prison (9/10) - Don't know why I like it. It's just very well done and very funny (again...).

Album: 8,2/10. It's not really outstanding music, except for some few songs, but the lyrics are very outstanding and you will listen to it with a big smile

I'm really one of the few people who actually like the previous release "Conspiracy of One". Sure, I am also not the "hardcore fan"...I don't own (or didn't at the time) "Smash", "Ignition", or "Ixnay on the Hombre", but I was relatively familiar with the Offspring when I purchased the latest album "Splinter". And here we go:

1. "Neocon" - Just another opener for the Offspring, although this is actually a mini-song done by the band instead of their normal joke opening.

2. "The Noose" - My favorite song on the CD. Starts off slow and REALLY picks up in speed (think "Staring at the Sun" from "Americana"). Probably the strongest song on the album lyrically.

3. "Long Way Home" - Reminds me a bit of "Million Miles Away" from "Conspiracy of One". Decent song, fairly generic Offspring tune.

4. "Hit That" - The token funny-sounding song on the album. Does have more maturity than "Pretty Fly" or "Original Prankster", but still just another radio single for the Offspring.

5. "Race Against Myself" - Slower song, but still a rocker, and a good one at that. Very much in the same vein as "Denial, Revisited". I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

6. "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" - This would be the best song one the album if not for the incredible lack of length to the song. I think it runs about 2 minutes. You really start to get into it and then it's suddenly over. Very catchy, very hummable, but just too short.

7. "The Worst Hangover Ever" - It was ok the first two or three times I heard it, but after that, it really started to grate on me. Island/ska-like beat with poor lyrics. I think Dexter sums it up well when he screches in the the middle of the song, "Make it stop, please!"

8. "Never Gonna Find Me" - More of a return to classic Offspring: fast and hard. Not a bad song, especially after that last one.

9. "Lightning Rod" - Another hard song with a few tempo changes. Slows down to more of a power rock during the chorus parts before picking up for the rest of it. One of the relatively "hidden" gems on the CD that few people talk about, but I enjoyed.

10. "Spare Me the Details" - An acoustic selection that at first sounds like another joke song. However, there really is some "seriousness" to the song and it turns out to not be so bad.

11. "Da Hui" - FAST. That's it. FAST. Kinda weird, nothing really amazing unless you're into speed songs about Hawaiian surfer gangs...

12. "When You're In Prison" - Now, if the Offspring ever made a mistake, it was ending the record with this: a joke song about being taken advantage of in prison made to sound like it was record back in the 50's or so. Now, explain to me why you would end with something like this? What a waste.

It really isn't a bad album, but it's no record-breaker either. If you can find it used, I would suggest it. If you must buy it new, then I would only really suggest it if you must complete your Offspring collection.